Delta Chelsea Hotel

Kid-Friendly Hotel in the Heart of Downtown Toronto

High-end boutiques, upscale restaurants, and world-class museums line the streets near Delta Chelsea Hotel, located in the heart of downtown Toronto. With the hotel as your home base, you can walk to the Toronto Eaton Centre, a glass-enclosed shopping center with more than 230 retailers, then head over to see the Frank Gehry–redesigned Art Gallery of Ontario. Flash your hotel keycard to get discounted entrance to the gallery and a number of other local attractions, including The Second City and Casa Loma.

Kids will enjoy the hotel’s indoor pool with a 130-foot corkscrew water slide, plus a teen lounge with video games, computers, and a ping-pong table. There’s even an all-day childcare service for kids 5–12 (extra fees) that includes games, activities, and meals. The hotel has a few spots for grownups as well, such as the adults-only indoor pool area with panoramic views of downtown. There’s also Elmwood Spa, located right next door to the hotel in a historic brick building. Inside, you can get a facial, massage, or detox body wrap, or simply relax in the swimming pool, whirlpool, and water-balloon-fight arena.

Some guest rooms have city views as well, and all feature pillow-top mattresses, modern furnishings, and free WiFi. In the lobby, four restaurants serve a wide selection of local and international cuisine. Head to Bb33 Bistro & Brasserie for charbroiled Alberta steaks and housemade dungeness crab cakes, or stop by Monarchs Pub for contemporary pub food and live music.

Toronto, Ontario: Walking City with High-End Shopping and World-Class Museums

With a sprawling network of eclectic neighborhoods and miles of waterside parklands, Toronto is known as a wonderful walking city that overflows with cultural treasures. Set on the shores of Lake Ontario, the city’s scenic hiking and walking trails wind along the harbor front. Wintertime visitors may want to visit the skiing and snowboarding hills within a few minutes’ drive of the hotel. Beginning in early December, a number of outdoor ice-skating rinks open up throughout the city.

A northerly stroll through the Fashion District and Chinatown leads to Kensington Market, a bohemian village rife with vintage shops and organic food markets. For haute couture shopping and fine dining, visitors flock to the Bloor-Yorkville neighborhood where modern-art installations and crosswalks lined with memory foam soften the industrial streetscape.

Toronto also serves as home to some of Canada’s best museums, starting with the rare Quebecois religious statuary and the restored Georgian house at The Art Gallery of Ontario. In addition to hosting the country’s largest African and Oceanic art collection, the massive museum curates Italian Baroque sculptures, and historical Canadian art, including contemporary Inuit masterpieces. And science geeks will want to make a stop at the Ontario Science Centre, where they can watch an IMAX film, delve into space at the planetarium, or touch a plasma ball at the Science Arcade.